TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

FRIDAY JULY 12, 1996

Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning

Turkish President Suleyman Demirel yesterday persuaded visiting
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the Turco-Israeli military
accord posed no threat to any third country. Addressing a press
conference after his official talks with Demirel, the Egyptian
President said the accord only dealt with military training and
did not signal a new bloc in the Middle East. "No country should
be uncomfortable because of this agreement" Mubarak said,
indicating his satisfaction with Turkish explanations. Mubarak
said he was satisfied with the state of relations between Turkey
and his country, adding that the talks also covered a review of
the Middle East peace process. He stressed the sides' commitment
to respect international accords.

Demirel stressed his country's role in the Mideast peace process.
Addressing the joint press conference, Demirel urged players to
continue the peace efforts and offered Turkey's help. "Peace in
the Middle East is a golden opportunity" he said. "If we miss
this opportunity, we cannot know what will happen in the region".
Turkey, Demirel said, also wanted to establish good relations
with Syria but could only do so if Damascus withdrew its support
to terrorism. Demirel spoke of international solidarity against
terrorism and called on Syria to join the effort. "Terrorism in
Turkey is supported by Syria" Demirel said. "The chief terrorist
can be found in Syria, he lives there". Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is known to reside in Damascus.

Demirel said Turkey and Egypt had agreed to sign a good
neighbour, friendship and cooperation agreement. Demirel
indicated that both foreign ministers would start the preparation
of this agreement and that at their next neeting he and Mubarak
would sign the accord. /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/

President Suleyman Demirel issued a message for World Population
Day stating that that rapid population growth was one of the most
important problems facing both Turkey and the rest of the world.
Demirel pointed out that the world's limited natural resources
and industrial output were insufficient to meet the increasing
needs of the growing population.

"In the modern world, the quality of life for the population is
increasingly important. The opportunities available and the
quality of people's lives have become the criteria to identify
the development level of that country. Although economic
developments leads to the wealth and welfare of a country, there
are long-term and short-term limitations to it. Turkey has used
its potential in the best way possible and has kept the annual
average rate of economic development at 5 % for the last three
decades. However, it is not possible to maintain the development
rate at the same level after a certain threshold".

The president concluded by emphasizing the importance of
maintaining the balance between natural and human resources, and
the rate of population growth. "This balance should be around
1-1.5 % for Turkey" he said. /Cumhuriyet/

Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan announced the hamlets in the
Southeast which were evacuated due to security considerations in
the past would be reopened to settlement. The prime minister said
the former inhabitants of these hamlets would be allowed to
return to their homes. In addition to this, the state will
operate all the idle meat processing plants in the region, buying
all the livestock the region's farmers are prepared to sell. The
hamlets were evacuated after military officials felt they had
become a security hazard. They said the separatist terrorists of
the PKK organization used these hamlets to obtain food or for
other logistic purposes. The PKK also raided some of these
hamlets killing men, women and even children.

Erbakan made the announcement at the end of a 90-minute meeting
with Chief of General Staff Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi. He
stressed that Gen.Karadayi, too, favoured the resettling of the
hamlets, and that the general said explicitly that the people in
the Southeast could be assured that the hamlets were now secure.

After his talks with Demirel, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,
who paid a visit to Turkey yesterday, also conferred with Prime
Minister Erbakan who said they had discussed ways and means of
boosting bilateral cooperation, furthering the peace process in
the region and coordinating the two countries' stances in the
international arena. Asked whether Mubarak had offered to mediate
in Turkey's security and water disputes with Syria, Erbakan
replied evasively, saying: "We noted our common views regarding
the need for brotherly ties between Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq,
Syria and Turkey with none of the sides allowing any activity
against the others, and decided to cooperate to achieve that".
/All papers/

The US has proposed a military deal to Turkey for the formation
of a Croat-Moslem army in Bosnia. The US idea is that Turkey
could play a supportive coordination role in a "training and
equipment supply" programme.

Special US representative for the Balkans, James Pardew, in
Ankara yesterday for talks on the region, made the proposal and
also said that the US would provide material aid to the programme
worth up to 100 million dollars and financial support for
training programmes in Turkey. /Hurriyet/

The economic sector as represented by the Economic Development
Foundation has made its approaches to the Welfare Party and
stressed again that Turkey must become a full member of the
European Union (EU).

Representatives of the foundation have called upon the new
government to initiate steps to complete Turkey's moves towards
membership in the EU. During the foundation's 33rd general
meeting yesterday, speakers noted developments between Turkey and
the EU and said that customs union agreements must be applied.
Foundation members stressed that new rules must be made for the
customs union to be fully effective and that to increase
competitivity new legislation was required. /Milliyet/

European Term president Ireland's John Bruton and French
President Jacques Chirac both agreed yesterday that the new
pro-Islam coalition government should be given a fair crack of
the whip. Both sides looked positively at the new developments in
Turkey. /Milliyet/

Speaking in a conference on "Political Parties in Turkish
Democracy" held by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, representative
of the Foundation in Turkey, Dr.Max George Meier stated that
Germany would give every support to Turkey for its acceptance
into the European Union. Meier also pointed out that
relationships between MPs paved the way for stronger ties in
international relations. /Cumhuriyet/

The Iranian government has stopped bringing the claim that some
civilians were wounded and killed as a result of Turkish
helicopter border incursions to international organizations.
Speaking to the Iranian newspaper, Ahbar, Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs responsible for the Asian-Pacific region,
Alaaddin Burujerdi said that Iran and Turkey could solve their
problems through mutual contacts. /Cumhuriyet/

During a military operation in Northern Iraq, a PKK camp in Bote
has been destoyed and a high number of terrorists have been
killed. Upon reports that about 750 PKK terrorists were gathered
in Bote, Northern Iraq, and were preparing attacks against
Turkey, the General Staff ordered an air attack. During the
attack initiated on July 10, PKK training facilities together
with a large amount of food and weapons were destroyed.

On the other hand, during a operation in the environments of
Diyarbakir on Wednesday, a military vehicle hit a PKK mine and as
a result six members of the security forces were killed, two
others were wounded. /Milliyet/

The official "Tehri" newspaper published in Syria, noted that a
period of warming in Turco-Syrian relations could start with the
new coalition government that has come to power in Turkey. The
newspaper condemned the agreement for military training
cooperation recently signed between Turkey and Israel, and noted
that if Turkey withdraws from the agreement and if Turkey exerts
efforts to improve its relations with Syria, Syria was ready for
"unlimited cooperation". Diplomatic observers draw attention to
the fact that the major coalition partner, the Welfare Party, has
still not defined an open policy course on the water issue, and
add that Erbakan needs time to declare his view on the issue.
/Milliyet/